StFX track & field team competes at McGill Challenge

Photo credit Derek Drummond
Photo credit Derek Drummond

MONTREAL -- The York Lions and Guelph Gryphons captured the respective men's and women's titles at the 19th annual McGill Team Challenge track and field meet, held at the Richard Tomlinson Fieldhouse, Jan. 24-25.

Sixteen records fell at the two-day competition, including 10 meet standards and a half-dozen fieldhouse marks. Billed as the largest indoor meet in Canada, the event drew 30 university teams and a record 893 athletes, including eight Olympians.

Guelph led all schools with a combined 20 medals between their men's and women's squads, claiming eight golds, six silvers and  a half-dozen bronze.  They edged out York, which captured 14 total medals, including six golden and three silvers.

Both the StFX X-Women and X-Men teams sent numerous competitors in both running and field events. The X-Women placed 23rd overall while the X-Men were 17th.

In the women's sprints, four X-Women competed in the 60m dash, five in the 300m and two in the 600m.

Freshman Abbi Finnan posted the top StFX time in the 60m with an 8.00, placing 21st overall amongst a field of 71. Eilish MacQuarrie ran an 8.06 in 26th, Jillian Murphy (8.12) was 29th and Jillian Nolan (8.67) was 62nd.

MacQuarrie had a strong showing in the 300m race, coming 10th overall with a time of 40.45, and placing seventh amongst CIS sprinters.

Bridget Brennan was 44th in the 300m in a field of 88 with a time of 43.14. Murphy placed 52th with a 43.56 clocking, while Nolan (46.29) and Brittany Wadden (47.53) rounded out the X-Women finishers in 74th and 78th places.

Elizabeth MacDonald (1:47.97) and Wadden (1:52.03) were the lone X competitors in the 600m race and placed 43rd and 47th, respectively.

MacDonald also ran the 1000m event where her time of 3:13.87 found her in 37th spot. Fourth year X-Woman Liz O'Connell finished 19th overall with a time of 3:02.12.

In the men's sprints, StFX had three competitors in the 60m dash, two in the 300m race and four in the 600m.

Demetrius Ferguson clocked the top time for the X-Men with a 7.18 in 27th place overall. Matt Murphy's time of 7.34 placed him 39th, while Adam Mitchell (7.40) was 49th amidst the field of 91.

Mitchell also ran the 300m where he was 24th overall, clocking in at 35.94. Murphy placed 59th with a time of 37.59.

Mackenzie Munroe was the top X-Men in the 600m race, placing 17th overall and 14th amongst CIS runners with a time of 1:22.96.

Thomas Faour (1:27.11), Ryan Washburn (1:27.28) and Ben Munroe (1:29.15) were 49th, 50th and 55th, respectively.

Washburn also competed in the 1000m event where he placed 47th with a time of 2:42.70. Third year X-Man Bryden Tate was 32nd at 2:36.34. He was also the top StFX finisher in the 1500m race with a 40th place showing and a time of 4:02.81.

Also running in the 1500m event were Alex Neffer (4:07.38) who came 56th and Cal DeWolfe (4:13.16) in 65th.

Liz O'Connell ran the women's 1500m event along with Melissa Hardy, Alexa Zarins and Ginny Anderson. Hardy placed 15th overall and 13th amongst CIS runners in the field of 63, crossing the line at 4:44.13. O'Connell was the next X-Woman at 4:46.01 in 19th overall, while Zarins (5:02.41) and Anderson (5:12.80) were 48th and 53rd.

Hardy also had a strong showing in the 3000m race where her time of 10:02.05 saw her place 13th overall and 8th amongst CIS competitors.

Zarins was 26th overall in the 3000m with a time of 10:43.28, while her teammate Anderson was 41st at 11:30.77.

In the men's 3000m race, Neuffer and Lee Wesselius placed 39th and 40th, respectively, with times of 8:54.32 and 8:55.12. DeWolfe was 45th with an 8:53.29 result.

Switching over to the field events, Lauren Agnew and Mary Catherine Thompson competed for StFX in the high jump. Agnew's jump of 1.50m placed her 19th overall while Thompson (1.45m) was 24th.

In the long jump Bridget Brennan came 21st with a 5.10m showing and Thompson was 35th at 4.41m.

The men's high jump saw Jake McKenna post a 1.70m jump in 29th place. He was 30th in the long jump (5.79m) behind his teammates Ben Munroe (5.93m) and Adam Mitchell (5.85m) who were 28th and 29th.

The X-Women had four compete in the shot put with Hailey Polluck producing the top showing in 14th spot with a throw of 10.38m. Ellen Murphy placed 17th at 10.13m, while Hannah Pollock (9.70m) was 18th and Jessica Warrener (8.31m) was 28th.

Murphy had an 18th place result in the women's weight throw with a mark of 11.23m. Hannah Polluck was 26th with a 9.54m throw and Warrener was 29th at 9.17m.

Three X-Men competed in the shot put and weight throw. Robert Kennedy had a top ten showing in the shot as his throw of 13.72 was good enough to nab eighth spot overall and seventh amongst CIS athletes. StFX teammate Dennis Brianski was right behind him in ninth place with a 13.67m throw. Liam Walsh rounded out the X results in 21st place with an 11.18m result.

Kennedy was 14th overall (11th amongst CIS) in the weight throw with a 12.86m result. Walsh (10.99m) placed 20th and Brianski (8.43m) was 22nd as he was only able to register one of three attempts, fouling on the other two.

The X-Men fielded relay teams in the 4x200m and 4x400m. The 4x200m squad consisting of Murphy, Mackenzie Munroe, Faour and Mitchell placed 11th in a field of 21, registering a time of 1:32.39.

The 4x400m team of Faour, Washburn, Mitchell and Mackenzie Munroe placed eighth overall with a time of 3:26.38. The race featured 14 teams.

With the large Montreal meet in the books, the StFX team will be competing next in Halifax on Saturday, February 8th. The AUS championship is slated for February 22-23 in Moncton.